Turbofan engines typically have a fan with a hub and a plurality of fan blades disposed for rotation about a central axis. The casing surrounding the fan blades must be able to contain a broken fan blade propelled radially outwardly from the rotating hub at high speed.
Thus, the fan case includes a containment structure, which may have one of many various known designs, including designs employing composites, which can include a containment fabric layer, such as Kevlar®. The containment fabric is typically wrapped in multiple layers around a relatively thin, often penetrable supporting case, positioned between the blades and the fabric layer. Thus, a released blade will penetrate the support case and strike the fabric. The fabric deflects radially but largely remains intact to capture and contain the released blade.
However, improvements are desired.